Panel-holding structure



Aug. 13, 1968 P. E. PEMBERTON PANEL-HOLDING STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 16, 1966 INVENTOR 401 E. PW/BPTd/V United States Patent 3,396,503 PANEL-HOLDING STRUCTURE Paul E. Pemberton, Irving, Tex., assignor to Overhead Door Corporation, Dallas, Tern, a corporation of Indiana Filed Sept. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 580,067 7 Claims. (Cl. 52397) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An elongated glazing element having a substantially S- shaped cross section and mountable upon a frame element between an upstanding rib and an elongated groove substantially parallel thereto. The glazing element has a channel-shaped portion into which one edge of a panel means is received and tightly held. The glazing element also has an L-shaped clamping portion for tightly holding the panel within the channel-shaped portion, the clamping portion having an offset edge receivable within the groove formed in the frame element.

The invention disclosed in this application relates in general to structure in a closure member for holding the edge of a panel in a selected position with respect to a frame element and, more particularly, to an improved glazing structure for rernovably mounting the edge of a panel upon the frame elements of the closure member.

The art of mounting panels within a frame in order to provide a closure member, such as a garage door, is well known and well developed. According to conventional practice, the frame elements are provided with a glazing stop against which the edge of the panel is held either directly or indirectly by means of a separate, elongated glazing element. In order to provide a weathertight and shock-absorbing connection between the frame element and the panel, it is customary to insert the edge of the panel into a channel-shaped insulation strip which is then gripped between the glazing stop and a removable glazing element. However, such an arrangement necessitates the use of screws, clamps or some other fastening device for securing the glazing element to the frame element, and these fastening means not only require time and cost to install, but they are often difficult to replace if lost. Moreover, these fastening means often lead to problems of leakage or bimetallic corrosion which render the closure member unsuited for its intended purposes or objectionable in its appearance.

In addition to the foregoing, it has been found that the individual discretion required to install the separable glazing element is often lacking so that the panel is either damaged directly during the assembly, or later on, as the result of an improper assembly. For example, the removable glazing element may be fastened to the frame element either too close to the glazing stop or too far from the glazing stop to provide the proper amount of gripping of the panel.

Accordingly, a primary object of this invention has been the provision of a glazing structure whereby the edge of a panel can be engaged and held in a selected position with respect to the elements of a frame while avoiding the aforementioned problems encountered by use of existing glazing materials for the same purpose.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a one-piece glazing strip capable of mounting a panel upon a frame element which, except for a minor modification, is substantially conventional in structure.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a glazing strip, as aforesaid, which can be manufactured inexpensively, which can be assembled upon a frame element with a panel quickly and easily and also dismantled quickly and easily without special tools.

A further object of this invention has been the provision of a glazing strip, as aforesaid, which can be fabricated from a plastic material which is able to serve not only as a cushion and shock absorber for the panel, but also a means of firmly and resiliently gripping and holding the panel with respect to the frame element.

A further object of this inventionis the provision of a glazing strip, and structure, as aforesaid, which is pleasing in appearance, and capable of providing a weathertight connection between the panel and the frame elements.

Other objects and purposes of the invention will become apparent to persons familiar with this type of equipment upon reading the following descriptive material and examining the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragment of a front view of a closure member equipped with a glazing structure according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a sectional view taken along the line H- II in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view similar to that appearing in FIGURE 2 and showing the glazing element of the invention in a partially installed condition.

FIGURE 4 is a sectional view similar to that appearing in FIGURE 2 and showing an alternate type of glazing element.

For convenience in description, the terms upper, lower, and words of similar import will have reference to the structure as appearing in FIGURE 2. The terms interior, exterior and words of similar import will have reference to the right and left sides, re spectively, of the structure appearing in FIGURE 2. The terms inner, outer and derivatives thereof will have reference to the geometric center of the closure structure and parts thereof.

General construction The objects and purposes of the invention, including those set forth above, have been met by providing spaced stop means on the inner sides of the frame elements. One of said stop means is preferably an elongated rib which projects laterally from and extends lengthwise along each frame element. The other stop means is preferably an elongated recess in said inner side and substantially parallel with said rib.

An elongated glazing element having a substantially S-shaped cross section is mounted upon said frame element between said rib and said recess or groove and it has a channel-shaped portion into which one edge of the panel means is received and tightly held. The arrangement and construction of said glazing element, said rib and said recess are such that at least portions of said glazing element are continuously held under transverse compression and/ or strain when said glazing element is properly mounted between said stop means and said panel edge is within said channel-shaped portion. In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the glazing element is fabricated from a resiliently flexible plastic material, and in another embodiment the channel-shaped portion is composed of material which is more readily compressible than the material in the remainder of the element.

Detailed disclosure The closure member 10 (FIGURE 1), which has been selected to illustrate one preferred embodiment of the invention, is comprised of a frame structure 11 in which a panel 12 is held by means of a glazing structure 13. The frame structure 11 may be formed, in a substantially conventional manner, from a plurality of frame elements, the lower element 14 of which is shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. Theelement 1 4 hasan upper side wall 16 upon which the glazing element 17 is mounted between the interior and exterior walls 18 and 19 thereof.

A glazing stop or rib 22 projects upwardly from the side Wall 16 adjacent the exterior wall 19. In this embodiment, said glazing rib 22, which extends lengthwise of the frame element 14, has a lower portion 23 which extends interiorly at an angle of about 45 degrees to the side wall 16 and an upper portion 24 which is secured to the upper edge of the lower portion 23 and is substantially perpendicular to the side wall 16, for reasons appearing hereinafter. The side wall 16 has an elongated, upwardly opening recess or groove 26 which is parallel with and spaced from the glazing stop 22. The recess 26 is preferably sloped somewhat with respect to the side Wall 16 toward the glazing stop 22. The other frame elements of the struchim 11 may be formed substantially as described above with respect to element 14.

The glazing element 17, which has a substantially S- shaped cross section in this particular embodiment, may be fabricated from any convenient, resiliently flexible material, but is preferably extruded from a resiliently flexible plastic material, such as polyvinylchloride. Said glazing element has an upwardly opening channel portion 30, which is disposed adjacent the glazing stop 22, and an integral L-shaped clamping portion 31 which extends interiorly from the channel portion.

The channel portion 30 has an exterior flange or Wall 32 and an interior flange or wall 33 which are integral with the opposite edges of the web 34. The exterior flange 32 has an upper portion 36 offset interiorly to define a lengthwise recess 37 into which the upper portion 24 of the glazing stop 22 is snugly received for opposing upward movement of the glazing element 17 away from the side wall 16 of the frame element 14.

p More specifically, the exterior flange 32 has an upper edge 38 which extends across the upper edge of the glazing stop 22, and a central sloped portion 39 which snugly engages the lower portion 23 of the glazing stop 22. The lower edge of the panel 12 is received into the groove 42 defined by the flanges 32 and 33 of the channel portion 30.

The clamping portion 31 has an upper wall 43 which is normal to the interior flange 33 and preferably integral with the upper edge thereof. Said clamping portion 31 also has an interior wall 44 which is normal to and integral with the upper wall 43 thereof. The lower edge portion 46 of the wall 44 is offset exteriorly to provide a shoulder 47 which bears tightly against the upper surface of the side wall 16 when said lower edge portion 46 is disposed within the groove 26. The lower edge portion 46 is arranged with respect to the remainder of the clamping portion 31 so that, when said edge portion 46 is snugly disposed within the groove 26, the walls 43 and 44, hence the interior flange 33, are urged in an exterior direction from their positions of FIGURE 3 into their positions of FIGURE 2, in order to effect a tight clamping of the panel 12 between the flanges 32 and 33.

Lengthwise recesses 50 and 51 are provided in the interior flange 33 adjacent the upper and lower ends, respectively, Where they join the wall 43 and the web 34, respectively. The recess 50, as shown, is on the interior side of the flange 43 and the recess 51 is on the exterior side of said flange, so that these recesses tend to induce the flexing of the glazing element 17 along these lines when the glazing element 17 is moved into its panel-holding and fully mounted position of FIGURE 2.

It will be seen from the foregoing descriptive material that the glazing element 17 can be quickly and easily assembled upon a frame structure 11 by first inserting the edge of the panel 12 into the groove 42 defined by the channel portion 30 after which the panel with the attached glazing element is urged into the frame structure 11 from its interior side. Normally, the panel 12 will have a crosssectional dimension which is less than the distance between corresponding parts of the frame structure 11 by an amount equal to slightly more than twice thethickn'e's s of the web 34. Thus, the panel 12 with the glazing elements attached to the edges of the panel, can be easily mounted in the frame structure 11.

As the offset edge 46 ofthe c'larnping portion 31 approaches the interior wall 18 of the frame structure 1 1,- it will be necessary to flex the upper wall 43 of the clamping portion 31 upwardly after which thesglazing element 17 is then forced in an exterior direction until said lower edge 46 can'be urged downwardly into the groove 26. This will normally effect the clamping of the panel 11 within the channel portion 30 as described above. l I

Dismantling of the panel 12 from within the frame structure 11 can be effected quickly and easily merely by raising the interior Wall 44 of the clamping portion 31 until the offset edge 46 thereof is removed from the groove 26 after which the panel 12 and the attached glazing element 17 can be moved interiorly.

The upper wall 43 (FIGURE 2) of the clamping portion 31 will normally be flexed, inwardly in this instance, because the exterior movement of the clamping portion 31, urged by the seating of the edge 46 within the groove 26, is normally greater than the amount required to effect a clamping of the panel 12. This arrangement provides for use of the glazing element 17 for engaging and holding panels 12 having substantial variations in thickness. In one embodiment, for example, variations of as much as 60 thousandths of an inch are permissible, without affecting adversely the capacity of the glazing element to effect a proper clamping action.

In an alternate structure, shown in FIGURE 4, the channel portion 30A is fabricated from a relatively soft and resilient material such as rubber, either natural or synthetic. The upper edge of the interior flange 33A may be either molded to or welded to the adjacent edge of the upper wall 43A on the clamping portion 31A. Generally speaking, the assembly and performance of the modified glazing element 17A will be substantially the same as the assembly and performance of the glazing element 17, discussed above. However, better shock-absorbing and cushion eifects will be provided by the material in channel portion 30A.

Although particular preferred embodiments of the invention are disclosed herein for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized that variations or modifications of such disclosure, which lie within the scope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated. j

The embodiments of the invention in which 'an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. An elongated member for engaging the edge of a panel and supporting same upon a frame element, comprising:

elongated channel means having one sidewall'relative- 1y movable toward and away from the other sidewall and defining a groove therebetween into which the edge of a panel is receivable; elongated clamping means adapted to apply a force to said one sidewall near the freeedge thereof'whereby said one sidewall is moved toward the other sidewall, said clamping means having first and second wall means arranged to define continuously a substantially L-shaped cross section, said'flrst wall means being secured along a free lengthwise edge thereof to said one sidewall near the free edge thereof, and said second wall means being substantially spaced from said one sidewall at all timesand arranged to define therewith a channel opening in the opposite direction from said groove.

2. A member according to claim 1, wherein saidelongated member is substantially S-shaped in cross section and said first wall means is integrally connected to said second wall means along lengthwise-edges thereof, and

said second wall means is substantially parallel to said one sidewall at all times.

3. A member according to claim 2, wherein the opposite lengthwise edges of said one sidewall have lengthwise zones of reduced thickness to induce flexion of said member at said zones when said clamping means applies a force to said one sidewall.

4. A member according to claim 1, wherein said clamping means consists of a relatively stifi material.

5. A member according to claim 1, wherein said channel means consists of a resiliently flexible, relatively soft and rubber-like material; and

wherein said clamping means consists of a resiliently flexible and relatively stifi, plastic material.

6. A panel-holding structure, comprising:

frame means having an elongated mounting surface thereon;

rib means extending lengthwise along, and projecting laterally from, said mounting surface;

means defining a first groove extending lengthwise of said frame means and opening through said mounting surface, said groove being substantially spaced from and substantially parallel to said rib means;

an elongated, substantially channel-shaped member having a pair of sidewalls defining therebetween a second groove into which an edge of a panel is receivable, one of said sidewalls being relatively movable with respect to the other, the other sidewall of said channel-shaped member being engageable with said rib means; and

an elongated clamping member having first wall means secured adjacent one lengthwise edge thereof to said one sidewall near the free edge thereof, and having second wall means with an edge portion thereof snugly disposed within said first groove when said other sidewall is firmly against said rib means and said panel is clamped between said sidewalls, said second wall means being substantially parallel to and spaced from said one sidewall when said edge portion of said second wall means is disposed within said first groove.

7. The structure according to claim 6, wherein said clamping means consists of a relatively stiff material and has a substantially L-shaped cross section, and said other sidewall and said second wall means have portions offset toward said one sidewall.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,246,409 6/ 1941 Cheston 52403 3,210,781 10/1965 Pollock. 3,212,179 10/ 1965 Koblensky 52403 3,344,573 10/ 1967 Martin et a1. 52-403 REINALDO P. MACHADO, Primary Examiner. 

